25 Illegal Immigrants Apprehended in Smuggling Bust

Last Update: 10/21 5:24 pm

Suspected illegal immigrants are found in the back of a tractor-trailer with a trap door in the floor. (U.S. Border Patrol) TECATE - Border Patrol agents caught 25 illegal immigrants in the East County as they were being smuggled in a tractor-trailer.

The group was caught in Tecate Monday at 8:45 after agents spotted suspicious activity.

"They spotted a group of suspected illegal aliens as they boarded a utility van from a brush-laden area along State Route 188," said the Border Patrol in a written statement.

Agents followed the van to a parking lot where they watched people leave the van and enter the cargo area of the tractor-trailer through a trap door in the trailer's floor.

The 49- year-old truck driver was arrested. Agents apprehended 23 males and two females inside the cargo trailer.

The driver is in federal custody a faces alien smuggling charges, according to the Border Patrol.

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